Generally, a refrigerator serves to store food items such as meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, and beverages with a fresh state for a long time. The refrigerator includes a refrigerator body having cooling chambers therein such as a freezing chamber, a refrigerating chamber, and a vegetable chamber, doors for opening and closing the cooling chambers, and a refrigeration cycle for providing cool air to the cooling chambers.
As the refrigeration cycle, is being currently used a so-called ‘vapor compression-type refrigeration cycle’ consisting of a compressor for compressing a refrigerant, a condenser for emitting heat thereby condensing the compressed refrigerant, an expander for expanding the refrigerant, and an evaporator for evaporating the refrigerant by absorbing peripheral heat.
Once the temperature of the freezing chamber or the refrigerating chamber increases to a temperature more than a preset temperature, the refrigeration cycle is operated. As the refrigeration cycle is operated, the evaporator forms cool air, and the cool air circulates through the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber by an operation of a cooling fan.
As the cool air circulates through the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, the freezing chamber, the refrigerating chamber, and the vegetable chamber provided with the refrigerating chamber maintain preset temperatures.
The refrigerator may be classified into various types according to methods for circulating cool air, positions of the freezing chamber and the refrigerating chamber, configurations of the evaporator, etc.
The refrigerator may be provided with various functions so as to enhance a user's convenience and satisfaction degree.
For instance, the refrigerator is provided with an ice making system (or apparatus) for making ice cubes.
The ice making system may include an icemaker for making ice cubes, and an ice bank positioned below the icemaker for storing ice cubes made by the icemaker.
The icemaker may be mounted at an inner side of a door, or inside the freezing chamber. And, the icemaker may be detachably configured. An ice-crushing unit for crushing ice may be provided at a part of the ice bank.
However, when the ice bank for a refrigerator is provided with the ice-crushing unit, the ice bank has an increased entire thickness thus to have a difficulty in being mounted to the door.
Furthermore, in this case, it is difficult to detach the ice bank from the door. And, when the ice bank is detached from the door, ice cubes stored therein may be discharged out.